Liberal Democrats

Liberal Democrats, British political party created in 1988 by the merger of the Liberal party with the Social Democratic party; the party was initially called the Social and Liberal Democratic party. The Social Democratic party, which was formed in 1981 by politically centrist members of the Labour party, joined with the Liberals in 1981 in an electoral alliance, and in 1983 they won 23 seats in the House of Commons. In 1987 the alliance won 22 seats, and the next year the parties merged. In the 2001 and 2005 parliamentary elections the Liberal Democrats won 52 and 62 seats respectively. The 2005 result was the largest number won by the group since the predecessor Liberals gained 158 seats in 1924. Although the party lost several seats in the 2010 elections (despite increasing its overall share of the vote), it entered the government in coalition with the Conservatives, who had secured only a plurality. Nonetheless, the party remains something of a minor party in British politics, its centrist position threatened by Tony Blair's movement of the Labour party away from socialist positions in the 1990s and David Cameron's moderation of the Conservative party in the 2000s. Its ability to win seats also has been hampered by Britain's lack of proportional representation. Although the party secured a referendum on an alternative voting method through its participation in a coalition with the Conservatives, voters rejected the proposal in 2011. Nick Clegg has been party leader since Dec., 2007.